July 20, 2011

Getting Highlights and Lowlights at the Llanview Salon

Yesterday gave us a lot of both.

HIGHLIGHT: Somehow they made the soap trope of a character talking out his or her plan make some actual sense yesterday, as Echo's drunkenness seemed the be the driving force of her big speech talking half to herself and half to a bound Dorian.

HIGHLIGHT: Viki and David did have some fun bits. David thinking that Jodie Foster runs the FBI, but moreover that Viki would naturally have FBI connections, was good stuff. Even better was Viki commenting that she enjoyed the image of Echo in a goalie mask with her jaw wired shut.

LOWLIGHT: The image Viki had conjured up in her head was actually not all that different from the way Echo had bound Dorian.

Yikes. Was it necessary to be so creepy? I suppose I'd be more amenable to the image if I thought Echo was supposed to be a frightening psychopath, but thus far Echo seems more standard soap bad-girl troublemaker (which I'd been enjoying) than scary murderess (which seems illogical). Which ties in to:

HIGHLIGHT/LOWLIGHT COMBO:Little Spider-Sam rescuing Dorian was lovely and adorable. And Robin Strasser was terrific when he unbound her and she thanked him; I got a little teary-eyed because she actually played the relief very seriously while maintaining that whole "we have to make this look less scary for little Sam!" kindness. But I found the tonal shift very jarring. The scenes between just Echo and Dorian were very disturbing. Echo was planning to murder Dorian out of desperation, and almost suffocated her with a plastic bag -- and would have had Sam not stopped her. I understood all of that and thought the actresses played it well and, while I wouldn't have chosen to take Echo's character to such a dark place since I'd been enjoying her as a love-to-hate bad girl (and it was especially disappointing after the old-school fun catfight the other day between the two, because this could have continued to work in that vein), it made sense. But then Sam came in and "subdued" Echo by... spraying silly string at her?

I mean...? What? I don't get it. Had the whole sequence been campy, this could have worked. But it wasn't. The physical presentation of Dorian was upsetting to look at, and it appeared that a desperate Echo quite intended to kill her. So a major lowlight for me was the mismatch of what appeared to be a high-stakes dramatic situation with the purely campy resolution. (I have a well-documented love of camp around here, but I still need them to pick a tone for a storyline and stick with it, dammit!) There was even a way to do it with Sam still saving the day, but I'm sorry, silly string doesn't pin you against a wall. Maybe he could've sprayed it in her eyes, or tripped her somehow, or... anything. This was just too much of a jump for me under the circumstances.

HIGHLIGHT: The fact that the line, "I made a porn flick and Dani's the one apologizing to me!" exists in the world. That cracked me up. As does the idea that they recorded the whole thing in one take -- boy, that's going to be some hot porn! Two people doing under duress with basically no direction other than "just have sex"... steamy.

LOWLIGHT: Look, I know David Fumero is not the greatest actor on the show and that Cristian hasn't had a front-burner storyline in years. But Cris has been a character on this show for sixteen years. He was once married to the current female lead. He was once in a romance with another major female legacy character. He's even in the legions of the back-from-the-dead! And now it appears that Cristian Vega's final exit story, his final pairing, is going to be with Rama?! No. Just no.

HIGHLIGHT:Well, duh. The two Todds' first confrontation!

Just soap heaven for me. Trevor St. John and Roger Howarth were fantastic together and, as any scene like this should, it left us with more questions than answers. TSJTodd really does seem to believe he's Todd -- even though there's clearly still something he knows. He seemed genuinely disturbed to see that face. St. John made some great choices throughout the scenes; he went to shock, anger, feeling threatened, mocking, and my favorite bit -- touching his face where his scar used to be (and even if he's not RealTodd, he did once have a scar there in the aftermath of holding and raping Marty at his home, a scar that was something I always thought the show was foolish to vanquish, by the way).

RHTodd ran the emotional gamut, too, but the best moment was the look on his face when TSJTodd called him a freak. Old, old wounds. It's how Todd always thought the world saw him and he spent years vacillating between wanting to fight it and wanting to embrace it. And I loved that he still worked his trademark snark in there -- when TSJTodd asked him if he's some sort of meta-performance artist, his wry agreement was the Todd we once knew.

I was so ready to be disappointed by this initial confrontation, but I was not. Not at all. Chilling, fascinating stuff that I've been wanting to see for years without even realizing it. And if TSJTodd knew anything about RHTodd, he'd know if he points a gun at him, he's not bluffing. RHTodd is no more a swell guy than TSJTodd, just a very different one.

And a great ending, too, with Tea's line, "We have reason to believe that the next thing through that door is going to be good news" with the two Todds heading toward that door... delicious. I'm guessing they'll be interrupted somehow and the larger reveal will be put off some more but, hey, I wanted movement and we got it!

HIGHLIGHT: Starr getting some of her old mojo back. Enough with the romantic ingenue stories for her, please! She's so much better in this mode.

Comments

I gotta agree, I don't know why they made Echo go from soapy bad girl to...attempted murderess. All the wacky hijinks aside, she was truly all set to kill Dorian and once she hit upon the idea of doing so, she didn't show one hint of hesitation or remorse.

I'm dreading what's next because I have every reason to believe that Rex (who, as we know, is out for revenge against people who committed a crime and used their power and influence to get away with it) is going to use his power and influence to help her wiggle out of this.

I was so waiting for your post on this! The confrontation of the 2 Todds was epic!
I love love when RHTodd said "I know, I know.. u know the face but can't seem to put a finger on the name" ( yes little things thrill me. Of course, I'm more confused now that they've met and TSJTodd is all "I was always Todd Manning, will always be Todd Manning", it wasn't what I was expecting but TSJTodd was brilliant.. I loved how casual he was..can't wait for today's epi!

I kid you not was running around the house squealing at the awsomeness of the two Todds together. I ALWAYS loved RHTodd but TSJTodd grew on me over the years so to see them together was fan-freaking-tastic. I don't even watch OLTL on the regular anymore (haven't for years) but I am watching this. I FF'd through the ENTIRE episode (could care less about anyone else) except for this. LOVED IT.

I do agree with the strange back and forth they went in regards to the Echo-Dorian-Sam situation. Having Echo going at Dorian with a plastic bag and Dorian's very real fear the entire time was not campy. Sam sticking Echo to the wall with silly string... was.

I laughed, I admit it, simply because the concept was so ridiculous and I almost couldn't believe I was seeing it. But I was so relieved at Sam's timely rescue that it kind of fueled the laughter. Dorian's palpable relief and Sam's sweet 'It's not Spiderman, Aunt Dorian, it's me!' wrapped it up in a way I could appreciate even with the lunacy.

Although I don't like what I'm hearing about what's to come for Echo. Not a'tall.

Then you had Blair's dealing with Sam being missing and her big comfort were freaking Delgados. Tomas had some moments that were at least genuine but, I'm sorry, I know people love her but I don't get genuine from Tea (save for her genuine desire to take) and I find her side of the "friendship" to be very fake. And it bothers me that Blair ever had to make nice with that thing in the first place after the things Tea did to her.

The Todd showdown? Delicious. There is simply no way that TSJ is Todd. No. I loved him when he first came on, his affectations were very Toddian but he has shed them over the years to the point where I find him to be utterly shallow and flat. Maybe he's purposefully playing it that way now... who knows? All I know is that listening to RH's voice break when he said that if he shot TSJ he could go home... THAT IS TODD MANNING.

The frustrating part is that it's also the Todd Manning who could always win me back whenever he did horrid awful things that I should always hate him for.

I had resigned myself to not giving a damn about Todd with TSJ making his "interesting choices." But RH being back all engaged and stuff...

Sam rescuing Dorian was AWESOME! I couldn't stop laughing and Sam was so adorable. I'll let the silly string slide, b/c I figured Echo was just so drunk, it didn't occur to her that silly string couldn't stick her to the wall, which made it even funnier. I love this kid and I loved how happy Dorian was, b/c I felt so bad for her being bound and gagged like that. She was really terrified.

David and Viki are ♥. I love how Viki calms David down.

This whole porn thing is just ridiculous. Nate acts like it's not possible anyone he knows will ever see that flick or a friend of a friend might see it. If Deanna's gone, though, I couldn't be happier. If only she'd take Nate and some others with her.

Baz....is pointless. He needs to go away. Tomas is involved in this mess, but Baz's attitude irks me to no end. Tomas was lied to as well about not being his father. So what if Tomas didn't like him before? I can't, for the life of me imagine why anyone wouldn't be drawn to Baz's arrogance. If he has a problem, he can leave. He's grown. Otherwise, he needs to shut up.

I just don't get why this turn was taken with Jack. For him to tell Blair to calm down b/c it's not like Sam is her real son pissed me off so much. His lack of regard for anything outside himself is horrible. I was hoping no one would care that he was knocked out in Todd's office. It's the least he's deserved.

I can't believe that Blair(and Starr) didn't knock the stuffing out of Jack when he said that to her! After all of the crap he has been pulling, he had the nerve to say that to his mother? It isn't like Sam came to live with Blair last week. She has been the one to raise him and fight for him since he was just a baby.

But I would like to point out the fact that "Todd" sure knows how to throw a fairly lame party. Streamers, cake and a hired Spiderman? With only family invited? A small family party I can understand. But why wouldn't Sam's friends have been invited to see Spiderman? Todd(with any face) just seems to be the type of alpha wealthy parent where there is no such thing as over the top for their child's party. This little party just doesn't seem to be very Todd like. Dude should've been either dumping the planning off on Tea or he would've been the type to have an assistant plan it or even hire an event planner. Streamers and Spiderman? Really?

Dandesun, that makes both Todd and Tea even more sucky as parent/stepparent. They dumped Todd's young son's party planning on a man that Tea barely knows(and knows little about Sam) and who seemly knows little to nothing about children. Shit, I'm sure that Dani didn't have a party as lame as that crapfest. Of course, maybe Ross did all of Dani's parties.

Still, I find it hard to believe that Sam wasn't pushing for a cool party at some fun kid place, pool party or at least having some bounce house at the Manning yard with his friends. My friend's soon to be 5 year old is already pushing to have her party @ this bounce playground. Honestly, it looked like Todd and Tea spent $10 at the dollar store and hired the costume guy.

I don't know what is more unbelieviable: Two Todds, the fact that the stupid porn storyline just won't go away, Echo being stuck to a wall by foam string or the absolute suckage party of a beloved young child of 2 wealthy families.